Leading researchers from the United States and Ireland have joined hands to explore new semiconducting materials that could potentially bring down the amount of power consumed by mobile devices. This three-year research project will also find ways to improve the battery life of such devices. Researchers from various education and research institutes in the United States and Ireland will be a part of this comprehensive project, and will also explore new methods to miniaturize semiconductor parts and materials in transistors, which are an inextricable part of portable devices today.

The organizations that are participating in this project are: Tyndall National Institute and the Dublin City University, Queens University Belfast, the University of Texas at Dallas. Each of these organizations will receive funding from its respective government. The project, which is dedicated to the exploration and introduction of ultra-efficient electronic materials, has been christened Understanding the Nature of Interfaces in Two-Dimensional Electronic Devices (UNITE).

As part of the project, scientists will not only create, but thoroughly test Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs), which are extremely thin, 2D semiconductor layers. These layers are about 100,000 times tinier than the smallest object that the naked human eye can see. According to research conducted on these materials till date, it has been found that TMDs could be the key to highly efficient computing and power usage.
According to lead researcher of the study, Dr. Paul Hurley from Tyndall, currently popular materials such as silicon are on the verge of reaching the upper limit on their performance. Hence, it is about time that the research community continued to explore new materials that could help increase performance and reduce power consumption in electronics.

If successful, the project could provide exciting discoveries relevant to server centers and data storage.